Monday February 22, 2010
I’m on food kick today. I have no idea why except that maybe since I’m crawling out from under round #2 of the flu food actually tastes good again.
Aside from the two (shhh) brownies I ate today, I’ve been thinking a lot about food. Maybe it’s the rain outside. What is it about rain that makes me want to bake food and eat food? Mostly eat food. I wish someone would bring me a latte with caramel right now. Or at least some hot chocolate.
Today was a happy day for a lot of reasons.
1. I’m finally feeling better. People at this house have been sick for too long. It’s terrible when you all get sick at once. But really, this round after round of taking turns hasn’t been much fun either. The last two weeks have been the worst. Or maybe it’s just that my stamina was completely gone. Anyhow, aside from the fact that my head is still so plugged I don’t think any ear bones are capable of vibrating when receiving noise signals, things are going much better. Liam has a bit of a residual cough; but Adam and David are well again.
2. It is grey and rainy outside. Normally this would not help to make a happy day; but today it does. I think (or at least I hope) rain melts snow. We still have too much snow. I would really like to see some mud.
3. I was brave enough to give both boys hair cuts before their baths this morning. Liam hates hair cuts even more then I hate giving them. It usually takes one person to hold him down and one person to cut hair. But now they both look like self-respectable people again. Except they need their fingernails trimmed. What is it about ears and fingernails? They should come self-cleaning.
4. I have a new camera. This is the by-product of an unwise financial decision to use mileage based credit cards several years ago. When we started building our house, Steve and Christy lived in TX. We thought we were so smart paying $50 annually with a card that would quickly earn us flights to TX. Very funny. Or not. We bought most of our building supplies through someone David works with and he offered us a contractors discount OR the ability to pay with credit card … but not both. So the miles eeked up slowly and the black out dates are ridiculous. Why we still had the credit card after three years is more then I can say. Oh, I know. It felt like such a “waste” to throw away all those miles so we kept paying the annual fee. Ah, yes. Makes so much sense, doesn’t it. Finally we got smart and traded in the miles for product and now I get to have fun. Truth is, it was a good deal to get this for $150 in annual fees; and I did really want something small to throw in my bag for certain things. So the deals not sour. Just bittersweet. Because I can bet you some tomato basil soup from Cafe Europa we’d have used that $150 on something other then a second camera. Takes nice pictures though, no?
5. I’m feeling a little better. Oh, I already said that. My brain is still not processing normally and will not do so until Spring warms it. The other day I went to the doctor’s office and completely forgot to grab my diaper bag. No diapers. No wipes. No Liam-friendly snacks. Not even his sippy cup.
I walk into a room and have no idea why. Worse yet, I walk across the kitchen, stare aimlessly into the pantry or frig, and have no idea why or what I came to get.
On Wednesday I was desperate for a break. The boys were getting better at least and I was not yet sick so I took the boys all the way to Mom’s house and drove all the way back in order to go to Richmond with David. I was almost three miles down the road before I realized I had completely forgotten to wear a coat and we had to turn around. I don’t do well in winter. Not mentally. Not physically. Not emotionally. I do not think there was winter in the Garden of Eden.
But back to that food kick. Last week I found another menu that works for Liam. And that makes me REALLY happy. The jumping up and down kind of happy. A lot of our menus get centered around meat. This should make David happy, too. I think the Beachy family had an extra three or four meat lover genes embedded somewhere along the line. The problem is, there isn’t a lot of variety in the ways I get to fix it. Nix soy, dairy, and tomato and you’re just kind of stuck. Not so long ago when I met David for a kitchen photo session, we ate at Sticks. Great lunch. Great inspiration.
I concocted my own very simple marinade. 
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. vinegar
1/4 c. brown sugar
3 T. lemon juice
1 1/2 t garlic, minced (or three cloves)
dash of black pepper
The next time I do this I will, hopefully, plan ahead and marinate this overnight. In my winter stupor it never occurred to me to get the meat out until lunch time so it spent all of three hours floating in the brine. Too bad.
David grilled the steak til it was perfect and I served it on rice with homemade hummus on the side. Why do green things like hummus and guacamole look so disgusting on pictures? Oh, and I found mint tea concentrate in the freezer when I was looking for the steak. The combination of flavors in that meal was fantastic! After so many slightly boring potato and chicken menus, this was amazing. David said it was even better the next day. That’s a pretty high compliment in my book. Leftovers, better?
Speaking of food, it’s time to do something with the chicken sitting on the counter or dinner is going to be late. All this grey weather is making me want comfort food so I’m coupling our favorite creamy baked chicken (I’ll bake a seasoned chicken breast on the side for Liam) with one of our new Liam-friendly favorites. Peel and chunk potatoes. Place in pan and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and seasonings of your choice. We like Italian seasoning and garlic. Or fresh basil in the summer. Bake, covered, at 350 for one hour or until soft. These are perfect because the olive oil keeps them moist and eliminates the need for butter or sour cream later. What’s for dinner at your house?
Ground beef and potato scallop is what’s for dinner at our house.
Salad! Hey, thanks for the “heads up” on the miles-collecting credit card. I was considering signing up for one after paying an arm, a leg, and part of my head for the ticket to my aunt’s funeral. I’ll definitely think about it a little longer now. Wow! That steak looked so good!
glad you are on the mend! =) We have had such a good winter thus far (‘cept for the pg yuckies)…. I’ll keep my fingers crossed – and praying we’ll stay healthy!!
mmmm It all looks WAY better then the “cardboard pizza” we had! At least I did make a good salad though. =) Hey, I just cooked some garbanzo beans with the plans of making hummus, but don’t have a recipe that I’m convince on. Wonder if you’d share yours? Much obliged!
stir fry. =) and leftovers, although I’m sure our leftovers won’t be better second time around. =/ I thought your hummus looked good, and the steak looked awesome!
I need to call you, I had no idea you were sick again. I’m glad you’re feeling better! This kind of weather just makes me stuck in my own little world over here. NOT GOOD.
Some of your scenarios . . . I can relate to very very well. Especially the away from home with nothing for Niall. What’s worse is being at a party or someone’s house and forgetting his snacks. Niall has been very understanding . . . but he’s just that bit older than Liam.
Your steak did look delicious, but I tried a new recipe today as well . . . Garlic Chicken Wings . . .they were a real winner. Maybe you would enjoy them as well? I served them with mashed turnips and cooked buttered cabbage. Mmmm Mmmm Here’s what the recipe said:
3 lb chicken wings
1/4 c. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs pepper
1 Tbs rosemary
1 Tbs thyme
1 Tbs oregano
Place wings in a heavy casserole/baking dish. Combine all remaining ingredients and pour over wings. Mix well to coat wings. Cover and bake at least 1 hr. Serve with bread to dip into oil-garlic mixture.
We thought the herbs were a little strong . . . maybe next time I put in a tad less, and we skipped the bread and poured the sauce on our turnips.
Thanks for sharing. . . Ruth
I totally know what you mean about dreary days seeming like a cozy time to stay inside and bake! I love when I feel like that.
I got such a kick out of “I don’t think there was winter in the garden of eden.” I couldn’t agree more.
I am so glad your family is feeling much better! Even though your forgetfulness is taking its toll!
I constantly walk into a room and stand there and don’t know what I came for. I have been doing this since I was about 17. Sad, I know! I often have to go back to where I came from to remember what it was I wanted!
The food looks YUMMY and I was glad to see that the tulips are still surviving! They lasted longer than I would have thought. (Unless that was not a very current picture!)
That meal sounds really scrumptious. I would like a hummus recipe, too. Is it a lot cheaper than buying it? Oh, and the reason green food looks gross in pictures is because it looks gross in real life, too. 😀
@ewaldro –
yummy. I want to try that. I find it nearly impossible to think up things using hamburger which used to be my go to meat since it’s cheaper.
@clearlyhis –
@twofus_1 –
the hummus was actually easier to make then I expected. I used this recipe the other night; but sometime I want to try this one. Cheaper? I actually never bought it except at restaurants; but it was not expensive to make. I made a double batch for probably less then $2 and it was a huge amount of hummus. Note to self: Next time do not make double even if you have a huge can of beans. I LOVE bagels topped with hummus and sprouts so I will definitely be making this again when I get bagels.
@babydazed –
“own little world” … how well I know the feeling. I was just thinking of you the other day; but was scared I was too grouchy to call. 😉
@Ruth Yoder –
Ruth! It’s so good to hear from you! Anita has told me a little about Niall’s food allergies … always nice to hear another mom who makes me feel less wierd although I wish no one would have to go through it. I love the looks of that recipe and know the rest of my family would to. Hearing about turnips made me want to be in Ireland again with a warm scone and cup of hot tea. Oh, my. But seriously, I never hear of people eating turnips here. I wonder if we’d like them? I’m always looking for ways to add variety b/c we’ve gotten cut back in so many areas.
@appalolly –
I think that picture was taken about a week ago; but unfortunately, my brain doesn’t work right now. I do know I threw the last of them out yesterday so yes, they did last a long time!
@idreamovtravel –
Who knows, it might work better for you then it did for us. But even w/ putting small things like lighting and carpet on the card, it added up so slowly. (Like a year to get a ticket) And then when we did finally have enough miles and I’d think, oh, let’s go here, it didn’t work. Because either the airline didn’t use that airport or then the dates were blacked out. And you have to reserve the tickets a number of weeks in advance. Sometimes you get better service by calling in but then you have to pay a ticketing fee. I don’t know. It just didn’t make sense for us. David had one with United and luckily he could trade in for gift cards or amazon cards which was nice. Mine was flight or product (with American) and the camera was about the only thing I was remotely interested in besides a safe. Still, if I figured right, we spent about $150 in annual fees for a $350 camera so the trade off is ok. But I like Discover better w/ 2% cash back and no annual fee and then I can choose where I want that saved money to go. I think the ticket thing works well for some people. When we were in Ireland, we became friends with a couple who came over to work / visit (mostly work) for 2 weeks. They used a mileage card in his business so the miles racked up fast and then they planned their missions trips well in advance. Even then they had some scheduling issues sometimes and apparently were the first to get denied if the plane was full, that kind of thing.
Yes, yes, the fingernails and ears…always need attention! Especially if you’re responsible for 100 nails and 10 ears!:)
Supper is brought in by friends from church. Seriously, I’d rather cook myself, but this is a real blessing when we need it!
that steak looks delicious. Lowell likes some things better the second day. Lowell’s not too picky about leftovers…NICE! Those extra meat genes are in my husbands family too. And i am glad to know that you can trade things for miles on cards.
I enjoyed my visit here. And I will be back.
My window of time for being on here is about to slam shut, i.e. an appt to quickly get ready for!
Had lots of smiles as I read and now, thank you very much. I am hungry for steak. 🙂
Looks way yummy!
Happy Wednesday!
@down_onthefarm –
Hi! I found your blog not so long ago too and had fun reading! It’s so much fun to find other mom’s finding life in the middle of living if you know what I mean. Somehow I think you will. 😉
i got a kick out of you turning around for your coat. i HATE wearing a coat,and so unless it is below zero or i am going to be cold for an extended period of time, i skip it. much to the angst of older people around town.
sunday morning, marc had to go to church early for practice with the worship team and that left me in charge bathing, dressing, and pushing the three littles out the door. (side note, i was so SURE i was going to get there early, just to show him that it is, in fact, him who makes us late. so did not happen. grrr.) i thought i would skip the kids coats to cut out the putting them on, buckling big puffy kids in the car, and removing and hanging them up at church. they were dressed in two shirts already. and, i reasoned, the car is already warm. so it is like 30 seconds to the car, 30 seconds into church. so not worth a coat.
i got there, and had to park half a block away. i felt like the worst mom ever dashing down that half block with my kids, in 10 degrees without coats or hats.(caroline did have a hat and blankets.) lesson learned.
Is it too late to marinate for tonight?